One of the best things about being a part of a cooperative is your ownership. You’re not just a SPEC customer, you actually own a piece of the company. Each month when you pay your bill, you gain more equity in the cooperative.

As an owner, you’re entitled to a portion of the SPEC’s margins (profits minus expenses). Each year, SPEC’s Board of Directors evaluates the cooperative’s financial standing and gives whatever margins it can back to the member-owners. At SPEC these margins are called capital credits.

This year, SPEC retired $2 million in capital credits from 1995, 1996 and a portion of 2014. Members who were a part of the cooperative in these years have received a capital credit check relative to the amount of electricity they have consumed. Since 2009, the cooperative has retired more than $12 million in capital credits for its members.

Most utility companies pocket any profits, but that’s not the case when you’re part of a cooperative. Electric cooperatives were formed by rural farmers and ranchers who pooled their resources to put up power lines and get electricity to their homes and businesses. 

SPEC still works the same way today—our collective resources help keep the lights on. Any extra money rightfully belongs to SPEC’s members and as a not-for-profit business, the cooperative is responsible for returning these funds back to its members whenever possible.

Now, it may seem like a lengthy payback period—the 90s were quite some time ago—but SPEC actually has a very healthy rotation plan to return capital credits to its members. Some cooperatives operate on a rotation plan of 25 to 30 years, but SPEC is currently retiring capital credits on a 19-year rotation.

These funds are kept for a period of time because they are invested into the cooperative. Holding onto these capital credits allows SPEC to borrow loan funds at better interest rates. These low interest rates are important for every member because they help make electric rates more affordable as well as keep costs down for new construction, storm repair, system upgrades and other services.

Use your capital credits to make a difference

Some of SPEC’s members donate their capital credits to the Education Trust Fund, the cooperative’s scholarship program. In 2015, these donations helped pay for the education of 25 area students. Each of these deserving students received a $5,000 scholarship to use at the school of their choosing.

If you’re interested in donating your capital credits, contact us at pr@sanpatricioelectric.org or 361-364-2220.